Description he work above is a modern representation of the second degree tracing boards of old. It is filled with metaphor and symbolism, fluent to all Fellowcraft Masons. A sub title for the piece is:evolution of man is the alchemy of the spirit.The First Tracing boards were created as visual aids used to illustrate the meanings and principals of Freemasonry as taught within the degrees. Much of the symbolism is from the Western tradition, and has been adapted here for the modern mason.In the image there are many symbolic and esoteric interpretations. With adapting this work, the most significant change is the positional change of the viewer, moving from an external passive position looking in upon a pastoral scene to a participatory one with the viewer actively engaged in the activity. This changing position positions the initiated as if within mirror from the reflector to the reflection. This movement inward becomes the focus of the degree, passive to active moving the self towards the divine.

Greg Stewart, Los Angeles,Member Since December 2007Artist Statement Creatively, I am an artist, by affiliation, I am a Freemason.

My interests in the fraternity are in the esoteric aspects of the degree work. From them, I have been reborn into a system filled with symbolic vision and allegory.

The name Masonic Traveler is a creative nom-de-plume that stems from my digital journey in exploring my contemporary path through Freemasonry.

This artwork is dedicated to the further discovery of the Light within in Freemasonry. Its goal and purpose is to pursue a personal understanding of the divine in the context of the relativism of man and his nihilistic individuality.

Each piece is my own take on the allegorical degrees of Craft Lodge Freemasonry. Freemasonry is a fraternal order, founded on a universal belief in the Divine, illustrated by certain landmark tenants and virtues, that teach symbolically a progressive system of discovery that leads ultimately to a personal degree of self improvement and an inclination towards the betterment of society.

The Hermetic works are a growing collection of illustrations on the Hermetic Arts and Occult Sciences at the heart of many esoteric traditions.